This past summer, the incoming Steering Committee finalized FacNet's new mission and vision statements:

Mission: The Faculty Network supports and empowers faculty of all disciplines in higher education to contribute to the development of students and faculty as engaged voters and full participants in a democratic society.

Vision: We envision a higher education landscape where colleges and universities actualize their institutional commitments as centers of democratic and voter engagement to foster democracy as a way of life for all members of their campus communities and beyond.

 

NSLVE Release Update
The Institute for Democracy & Higher Education

Last month, the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education announced an anticipated release date of September 2021 for both its campus NSLVE reports and its national report, which will include data from the 2020 election.

As they progressed in the data analyses, they came to a team decision to hold the releases several weeks for one major reason: The COVID pandemic shifted enrollment patterns -- particularly among international students in the U.S. (who are ineligible to vote) -- to such a degree that relying on past international enrollments would have resulted in skewed estimates, particularly on campuses with normally high numbers of international students. With updated IPEDS data that we’ve received this week, they will be able to proceed and share your data with confidence soon.

The Institute for Democracy & Higher Education now estimate that campus reports and the national report will go out in mid-October 2021. In the meantime, now is the time to send them any updates idhe@tufts.edu 

Be on the lookout soon for info from IDHE on upcoming webinars and resources around the upcoming report releases.

What Faculty Should Say on National Voter Registration Day
Tuesday, September 28, 2021 is National Voter Registration Day. Faculty should feel free to use this guide in the days before or after!





   

By the Faculty Network for Student Voting Rights (FacNet) Curricula and Scholarship Subcommittee and  the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education1 

The last U.S. election was both high stakes and historic for college students. While the 2020  NSLVE (National Study on Learning Voting & Engagement) data is still being analyzed, we know that both 2018 and 2020 were good years for student democratic engagement. We do not want  to lose that momentum! And while the context for voting was challenging in 2020 - fast-changing  voting mechanics, mandatory social distancing, mobile student populations - faculty members  across disciplines stepped up as the most direct and possibly influential nonpartisan communicators with students. We predict that this is the new normal: faculty facilitating student knowledge and participation in democracy. 

National Voter Registration Day(NVRD) is a great time to refocus our efforts. Here are three things you should do: 
 

1. Educate students about voting mechanics.

2. Know your numbers. Do students on your campus and in your department  vote?

3. Confront misinformation and help students find quality information.
 

 

 

*Attendees are encouraged to attend an SLSV Informational Session ahead of the 
Post-Election Gathering

To learn more about the Coalition’s work - the next sessions are:
Oct 5 at 2:00pm, Oct 19th at 2:00pm & Nov 4 at 12:00pm
Zoom Link 

The IDHE Campus Boundaries Project:
Identifying Gerrymandering Risks for Undergraduates


 

IDHE is proud to announce the launch of The IDHE Campus Boundaries Project: Identifying Gerrymandering Risks for Undergraduates. Amidst the current redistricting cycle, following the 2020 census, college students’ communities are at risk of being gerrymandered as partisan redistricting processes unfold. This tool allows users to look at specific areas of interest (e.g., their own student communities) to learn where the student population is concentrated and how that area has been divided to create districts. Users can also use this tool to identify campuses within or near district boundaries. Because of the nation’s history of purposeful disenfranchisement of voters of color, we also enable users to examine the demographic composition of communities of student interest.

You can read a full description of how to use the tool, our initial takeaways, and explore communities of interest at idhecampusboundaries.org

 

Scholars Strategy Network Feature:
A Faculty Guide to Student Voting in Your Classroom
            

Because there are so many resources when it comes to voting, it can be tough to keep them all straight. Scholars Strategy Network curated an entire guide of resources specifically aimed at assisting faculty in student voter mobilization. The Faculty Guide to Student Voting in Your Classroom sorts resources into three categories: registration, education, and turnout. Given all of the incredible organizations working to support student voting efforts, this page highlights only a handful of the resources that exist. For more in-depth material, please check out this complete compiled list of student voting resources.